Abstract:
In recent years, instructional supervision has been given a great deal of attention in teacher education
professional literature. However, few reported studies have specifically focused on desired qualities of
instructional supervisors, especially in Third World countries. This paper reports the perceptions of
teachers, headteachers and senior government education officers regarding skills and attributes of
internal instructional supervisors in public secondary schools in Kenya. Findings indicated the
following major desired skills and attributes of internal instructional supervisors: (a) ability to lead by
example; (b) high integrity; (c) knowledge about delegation; (d) knowledge about public relations; (e)
supervisory skills; and (f) competence in teaching subjects. In addition, headteachers, as instructional
supervisors, should be qualified and experienced teachers. The reported findings are part of a largescale qualitative and quantitative survey research undertaken in Kenya to determine the perceptions of
headteachers, teachers, and senior government education officers regarding the practices of internal
instructional supervision and staff development in Kenyan public secondary schools.
